Motorola sues Apple for patent infringement

gallery

Motorola has filed three separate complaints about Apple, claiming the iPhone maker had infringed on its patents.

The accusations by Motorola cover 18 separate patents the company holds, including wireless technologies, antenna design and software application management.

It claims Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and a number of Mac computers all infringe on the patents, along with services such as MobileMe and the App Store.

Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility – the division responsible for the filings – said: “We have extensively licensed our industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, consisting of tens of thousands of patents in the US and worldwide.”

“After Apple’s late entry into the telecommunications market, we engaged in lengthy negotiations, but Apple has refused to take a license. We had no choice but to file these complaints to halt Apple’s continued infringement.”

Motorola has called on the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to investigate the breaches and to issue an exclusion order, stopping Apple from importing or selling any more of the allegedly patent infringing products.

It has also asked for Apple to be told to stop using the patents and to compensate the company for any past usage.

IT PRO contacted Apple for a response to the case but it had not responded to our request at the time of publication.

Dailey concluded: “Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property, which are critical to the company’s business.”

Email to a friend

Print this page